PICKERINGTON, Ohio — You are, by design, one or the other.
You’re one who takes, or one who gives.
Wednesday evening, Harrison White, 8, played in his front yard with his 5-year-old sister, Charity, not realizing that he just gave us all exactly what we needed.
“Their bags were full and they were getting tired and went up to one last house and there was an empty bucket,” Harrison’s dad, Chris, said.
That bucket sat on a chair on the porch of Ali Sodders’s home.
“I went ahead and left the bowl of goodies and candy so that they could help themselves,” she said.
Being out of town during trick-or-treating, Sodders would check her camera from time to time. And, with about 45 minutes left, she noticed her bowl was empty. About that time Harrison and Charity, who were dressed up as a referee and an angel, walked up.
“Without hesitation his first reaction was, you know, I need to fill this bowl up,” Sodders said.
During a night when taking is expected, Harrison gave instead.
“I saw a couple other trick-or-treaters going around the block and I knew they would definitely go to this house, so I wanted them to get candy,” Harrison said.
Harrison and Charity’s parents, who are new to the area, say they didn’t know what Harrison had done until a neighbor told them of the video and that someone was looking for them to thank them.
“Hopefully it’ll remind [Harrison] the next time he has an opportunity to just be kind, which is every day,” Chris said. “That that can make an impact.”
The impact of unsolicited generosity that is given by those who take kindness to heart.
“Just give,” Harrison said. “Be kind and if you don’t want stuff and you know other people might want it, then give whatever to the person that wants it.”